


A Mother's Tale: Love's Redemption

by A Magiluna Stormwriter (ariestess)



Series: A Mother's Tale [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Community: purimgifts, Epistolary, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-13
Updated: 2014-03-13
Packaged: 2018-01-15 13:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1306558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/pseuds/A%20Magiluna%20Stormwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry stumbles upon Regina's journal and learns things about his mother he never knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Mother's Tale: Love's Redemption

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SailorSol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/gifts).



> Author's notes to come after the reveal. But thank you to my beta.

For the third day in a row, the office door is open. Henry is now quite certain that this is on purpose. His mother had even told him he could get a new pad of paper from the office when they were eating lunch.

She's been encouraging him in his penmanship practice by having him copy recipes and poetry for her, even passages from his favorite books. He knows that some of the work is to verify that he's actually been reading what he's supposed to while on his spring break, but he also likes the look on her face when she reads some of the poetry he's found and copied out for her. The best was three days ago when he'd tried his hand at creating a poem for her.

In fact, the journal had been made available to him the very next day. Interesting…

He moves over to the desk, smiling in trepidation as he sees the journal opened and waiting for him. His mother was out in the backyard, tending to her apple tree and her herb garden. The rain finally let up yesterday, allowing the ground a break, which meant she could go out and tend to the perennials and plant the annuals.

> When I cast the curse, it had a twofold outcome. The first was taking the happy endings from Snow and everyone that sided with her against me. That part everyone knows; it's not like I actually tried to hide it from anyone. The other reason was far more personal. It was my way to start over, to get my own happy ending. Even by that point, after countless aborted attempts where Snow and I had the opportunity to kill the other, I was tired. The darkness just wasn't giving me the pleasure it once had. It was like a horrible addiction that I could no longer control or stop. I had to use magic or succumb to the hell of seeing just how awful my life had become.
> 
> To enact the curse, I ruined perhaps the only friendship I had, even trapped her in a body that's unnatural in this land. For twenty-eight long years, she was cramped in that cavern beneath the library, clearly plotting revenge against me that would be well-deserved. I also killed the two things left in the world that I loved to enact the curse: my faithful steed, Rocinante, and my father.
> 
> Coming to this land was supposed to give me the luxury of lording over the hellish lives I gave everyone, particularly Snow and her Charming. I could have killed him, probably should have in hindsight so that she could feel the same pain I did, but it wouldn't have the same impact without her memories. So he took root in a hospital bed in a coma until the Savior came into town. But that's getting ahead of myself…
> 
> The curse was supposed to be everyone living the same day over and over again until the end of time, or the curse being broken by the Savior. I thought it would be a pleasant diversion to be able to force Snow to stare at her near-dead husband every day, not knowing who he was or how to get him to respond. But it wasn't. I grew so bored within the first couple of days. Plus, things were already starting to change because of Owen and his father. They found themselves caught inside the bubble of what became Storybrooke when the town appeared here. That alone started to cause shifts in how my curse would play out.
> 
> I think I might have loved Owen, but it wasn't a healthy love. It was obsessive, like I thought he could fix things, and I didn't care what he wanted. I didn't think about him having free will. It would take me another eighteen years before I would feel ready to have a child. Part of me knows that it was to relieve my boredom. Another part of me knew that if I wanted redemption of any kind, to return to the innocent girl Daniel loved, I needed to find someone to love properly. I just didn't know how to do that. In some ways, I still don't. The examples of love I grew up with weren't exactly the best ones to learn from.
> 
> I struggled so much in the beginning when I brought Henry home. And then we finally clicked, right before I signed the paperwork to have him returned to the adoption agency. I have never since regretted having him in my life. Even if I didn't always do the right thing for him, even when my love hurt him, I always had his best interests in mind. He is my redemption, my salvation, and I love him more than anything or anyone in any land.
> 
> I will spend the rest of my life atoning for what I've done, so that he can be proud to call me his mother. If that means I grovel for Snow's forgiveness in the end, I'll do it. Even as it rankles in my soul a bit, she doesn't deserve the sole blame for all that's happened over the last several decades.
> 
> ***
> 
> Henry, I know you're reading this. This is just the barest of facts of my story, but I don't want to lie to you anymore. I will tell you whatever you want to know, without hesitation.
> 
> I love you, and I want to be a better person for you.

Without hesitation, Henry runs out into the backyard to tackle his mother in a smothering hug, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I love you, Mom. You _are_ a good person."

She returns the hug eagerly, kissing his cheek. "Thank you, Henry."

* * *

  
  
[source](http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/349942082)   



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